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Crisis intensifies in Kiev as police push into square

By David M. Herszenhorn and Andrew E. KramerNew York Times

Posted:
12/10/2013 12:01:00 AM CST

Updated:
12/10/2013 09:23:22 PM CST

KIEV, Ukraine -- Battalions of Ukrainian security forces early Wednesday stormed Independence Square, the central plaza in Kiev where protesters had been rallying against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych for more than two weeks.

Hours after senior Western diplomats arrived for meetings with Yanukovych in an effort to defuse both the country's slide into a political chaos as well as a deepening financial crisis, thousands of riot police officers and internal ministry troops fanned across Kiev, putting the Ukrainian capital into a virtual lockdown in the cold predawn darkness.

Officers descending on a slope past the Hotel Ukraina smashed through a barricade that protesters had heavily reinforced.

There was fighting and shoving matches as officers pushed into the plaza from virtually all sides, taking up positions and blocking the crowd's movements with interlocking shields. At least one of the tents erected by demonstrators caught fire.

As the security forces spread throughout the square, a large crowd of protesters brandishing sticks, clubs, metal rods and anything else they could find massed in front of the Trade Unions Building, which leaders of the demonstration had turned into the headquarters of what they call the National Resistance.

Fistfights and shoving matches broke out on streets that the demonstrators had slicked with water that swiftly turned to ice.

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The crackdown by the authorities came hours after a meeting between Yanukovych and Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief.

Western leaders, including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who spoke by telephone with Yanukovych on Monday, have warned the government against the use of force on peaceful protests.

It seemed likely that the enforcement effort would have serious diplomatic consequences, especially because Tuesday had largely been a day of consultations and discussions among senior officials. The talks with Western officials had largely focused on Ukraine's acute financial troubles; a deepening cash crunch could leave the country broke within months.

Amid the deepening financial crisis, the streets of Kiev erupted in violence early Wednesday. After initially punching through the barricades that protesters had established around the perimeter of the square, security forces began more aggressive efforts to take them down. At one point, they attached a rope and pulled one of the main barricades down with a winch.

Protesters in construction hats, bicycle helmets and other protective gear then rushed toward the police, with blows being landed by both sides. The police also began deploying canisters of tear gas, creating plumes of smoke around the swirling crowds.

By 3 a.m., witnesses said, the police had largely divided the crowd into sectors and had cleared a substantial portion of the plaza. The security forces were standing in formation but did not appear to be making any arrests.